Dear Stranger
by Lady Fyria
Summary: Serena was taken to a hospital by a stranger and as thanks, she went through his wallet. Now, stuck in the hospital because of a brain tumor, she writes letters to this mysterious stranger, telling him all about what happens every day...whether he likes it or not. At least she knows he's reading them. AU. Short chapters.
1. Her First Letter

Dear Stranger,

I just wanted to say thank you for taking me to the hospital today when I fell. If I hadn't run into you (literally) and hit my head, I wouldn't have found out that I have a brain tumor. Don't know what it is exactly just yet. The docs want to take some scans to find that out. And blood tests. And other scary things. Ugh, I hate hospitals. Sadly, I'll be stuck here for a while.

Oh, and the reason I know your address is because I kinda might've looked into your wallet that you left in your jacket on the chair when you signed me in to that lady who was batting her eyelashes and smiling too much at you. Hope you don't mind, but it was your five bucks that I used to buy the ice cream with. I can't resist sweets.

Hoping you're having a 'fun' day too,

Serena


	2. Letter Two

Dear Stranger,

I got this box of chocolates delivered to my room with a note that said, "Didn't your mother tell you not to trust strangers?"

She did. Still does. Every single day. She thinks I can't take care of myself, you see. But I know I can. During my numerous visits here in the past (I've gotten hurt a lot of times…don't judge me; I'm clumsy), I've learned lots and lots of stuff. How to perform CPR, self-defense from a nine year old girl who has leukemia, a little aerospace stuff from a war veteran, how to give yourself a fantastic manicure from a nurse in ICU…

Anyway, the white parasites who like to suck all the blood out of me diagnosed my tumor. And well…it's not good. They gave it some long fancy name that I will never be able to pronounce let alone write it. All I heard was 'incurable' and 'only a year or two to live at most'. The thing is, there's apparently something strange about it so they want to keep me locked up here to scan it and to take tests every day.

I wanted to die right then. There was so much I wanted to do with my life. I had plans with my friends to watch that new chick-flick this weekend! And to go shopping with my mom and be dragged along with my dad to go fishing and be annoyed by my brother and stalked by this nerd at school who's obsessed with me and to try to flirt with this really cute guy who only thinks of me as his sister.

[The paper here is heavily smudged and water stained, with multiple smears of chocolate. The entire next paragraph has been completely scratched out.]

From the Desk of a Dying Fat Girl Feasting on Chocolates,

Serena


	3. Letter Three

Dear Stranger,

I have to say I'm kinda surprised that you're actually reading these letters. I was expecting something more along the lines of ripping up and throwing away, not sending me the DVD copy of the movie I was supposed to see. But thanks. Me and my homosexual roommate are enjoying it greatly.

Oliver is _the_ best gay guy I have ever met. I've already dubbed him my new best friend. He's not one of those overly feminine types, which is nice. He's only two years older than me, making him a junior in high school. He's in here because he was beat up for being homosexual. When he told me his story I legit starting crying and I got out of bed, into his, gave him a big hug and we trash talked his bullies together.

Luckily for him, he won't be here too long. Once the internal bleeding goes away, all he'll have left to heal is a broken wrist, arm and two ribs.

Wishing the hospital had popcorn (and good food in general),

Serena


	4. Letter Four

Dear Stranger,

Oliver's gone and I'm a mess because I'm both sad and happy at the same time. He promised to come back and visit me whenever he could though. So now I'm alone in this horribly white hospital room. I should tell my mother to bring something to spice it up next time she visits.

I realize I haven't mentioned my family. They're dealing, I guess. My mother is taking it the hardest and my dad is more quiet than normal. At least my brother is less annoying. We found out that my dad's grandpa had a brain tumor too, and died from it.

Fantastic, isn't it? All hope of surviving is going down the drain, so to speak, but I'm trying to stay happy and optimistic as best I can. It's just really hard sometimes. There are a lot of times that I want to be the exact opposite but people expect me to be my usual cheery self, so I force myself to be. It's just…tiring.

On to the more exciting news: I got a new nurse! And he is _gorge-OUS_! He's too perfect and beautiful to be human, I swear it. He's probably some alien that came to Earth pretending to be a doctor to study and dissect the human body. I refuse to be a victim! I shall find out the truth…after I've drooled over him enough. Unfortunately, Nurse Katie, who works the nightshift, doesn't know anything about him, so I need to find a new source of information.

Feeling like a scheming evil bunny,

Serena


	5. Letter Five

Dear Stranger,

Assuming that you're not some anti-social hermit who doesn't watch television, you know about the tragedy that happened today. The hospital has been even crazier than it normally is since the first ambulance carrying injured children came screaming into the emergency room. I've got a new roommate now. He's a seven year old boy named Lucas DeMarco. He lost both of his legs up to his knees from the explosion. He has bandage covered stitches everywhere on his body. He's still unconscious and he has a lot of needles stuck in him.

What kind of sick people bomb an elementary school! They're young innocent children who haven't done anything…they're only just beginning to live! I don't understand why people would do such a thing. The person responsible for this should be the one unconscious in a hospital, not all these children!

I'm writing this now about twenty minutes after I wrote the last paragraph. Apparently, I got so passionate and angry that my pulse spiked up and suddenly there was beeping and my handsome nurse came in and told me to calm down. I tried but that didn't seem to work quickly enough for him, so he _stabbed me with a needle_. I screamed bloody murder at him for minutes before I literally became dead weight and calmed down against my will. It was horrible; whatever he did to me shouldn't be allowed. Or maybe it wasn't! Maybe it was some alien drug he injected into me! Maybe I'm slowly turning into one of them! I don't want to be an alien!

Seething internally,

Serena


	6. Letter Six

Dear Stranger

This letter is sooner and shorter than all the rest because I'm writing it in the middle of the night and my nurse keeps insisting that I go back to sleep.

What he doesn't seem to understand is that I _can't_ go back to sleep. You see, I woke up to a lot of beeping, except this time it wasn't my monitors going off—it was Lucas's. A herd of nurses and doctors came stampeding in and started yelling at each other. I couldn't see a thing until they wheeled Lucas' bed out, and then I could see the boy's frighteningly pale face, wide, terrified eyes and the way his small body was convulsing.

I tried sleeping, but his face haunts me even in my dreams.

Serena


	7. Letter Seven

**I apologize that it's been a while...I actually forgot about this. Summer is flying by. I'll update tomorrow too to make up for my absence :) But thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting and alerting!**

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Dear Stranger,

It's been three days since Lucas was taken away. He hasn't returned… I don't think he ever will.

The number of casualties from the bombing has gone up: fifty-six children, eight adults.

Fifty six little boys and girls. Daughters. Sons. Siblings. Friends. Dead. Gone forever. Never to be seen again.

Great. Now I'm crying again.

Disappointed in humanity,

Serena


	8. Letter Eight

Dear Stranger,

The alien initiated contact. I repeat: the alien initiated contact. And actually, he was surprisingly human. But that's all probably just an act. He shook my hand and told me his name is Darien and that he's interning here. He was apparently swamped with work so that's why he couldn't introduce himself properly earlier. He has a really nice voice, too. The kind you'd force to read long works of literature like Homer's _The Odyssey_. Now that I got to stare at him without having to pretend I wasn't, I realize that there is something familiar about him, but I have no idea what. Oh well. No use agonizing over it. If I knew him then I'm sure he would've mentioned it.

So anyhow, Darien told me that Doctor Menendez (the white parasite that's in charge of me) would be calling my parents in tomorrow to discuss treatment options to prolong my life. I don't think I want to though. What's the point? I mean, they don't even know what it is yet, but they're certain I'm going to die soon. Death is death…I'm going to die eventually one way or another. I don't see why I should try to escape it if it's impossible. Maybe it's just my time to go.

More news: my boyfriend finally came to see me today, even though it's been almost a week and a half since I got here. I was happy to see him nonetheless, but I quickly noticed he wouldn't look me in the eyes. The floor was more attractive to him, I guess. Then he told me that I wasn't worth his time, especially since I was stuck in a hospital and dying. He broke up with me.

Darien walked in at that awkward moment, noticed my tears, and yelled at him to get out. Darien came to my side and let me get snot all over his uniform shirt.

Maybe the alien isn't so bad. I still rather have had Oliver there for me, though.

Really needing more of that yummy and delicious chocolate you sent me,

Serena


	9. Letter Nine

**Who do you want the stranger to be? Please let me know because I don't know yet myself! :)**

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Dear Stranger,

I didn't get the chocolates from you like I was hoping…but I did get some from Darien, who seemingly noticed my obsession for it. It was really sweet of him; haha, no pun intended. That was just my genius shining. Though it was a very weak pun. Oh well.

Today has been…eventful. I got into a fight with my mother over my decision not to have any treatment for the tumor. She got more angry and upset than I've ever seen her; she was a volcano personified. She started knocking stuff off tables and pulling her own hair out. My dad grabbed her wrists when Darien stepped forward to force my mother to calm down. My dad gently pushed her down into a chair and Darien began his alien powers thing that calmed anyone down with just words. Doctor Menendez talked straight to my mother and not _with_ me—me, the patient whom they wanted to torture. Doctor Dez had already made it clear to me that she wanted me to go under treatment, but I suspected it was because if I lived longer, she could keep doing tests to figure out what was so strange about my tumor.

So two against one—totally wasn't fair. But since I'm seventeen, I have no choice anyway (Seriously! I'm just a year away! Why couldn't this have happened then?). I'll be going under chemotherapy and a bunch of other medicine.

I'm going to lose my precious hair.

I'm going to be _bald_.

My worst nightmare is coming true!

Trying not to rip out my own hair before I lose it for real,

Serena


	10. Letter Ten

**Thanks to you guys, I have decided who the stranger is! The selection was not made by choosing majority vote (who was, of course, Darien). It'll remain secret until the very last chapter. Hope you enjoy this letter! I felt tired after just reading it...there's only two sentences in it (they're really long run-ons)!**

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Dear Stranger,

I am feeling_ so_ _very_ wound up because of the stuff they gave me for the chemotherapy so now I can't sit still and I am literally bouncing in my seat as I write this but anyway I'm scheduled to go _through four months_ of chemo so far but sadly I'm not going to feel this amazing every day because according to Darien it's going to get _A LOT_ worse like a hill on a roller-coaster and that doesn't sound so bad because I _really_ like roller-coasters even though I probably won't ever be on one again which is _really_ depressing but I'm so energetic right now I don't even care but for now I'm trying to resist running like a madwoman through the hospital since I could probably climb Mount Everest right now if they'd let me!

I'm getting ready to visit the children's ward since I love playing with the kids since hopefully they'll benefit from my over-energetic-ness and not creeped out like everyone else because apparently I'm more energetic than other people while on this stuf).

Sincerely,

The Energizer Bunny


	11. Letter Eleven

Dear Stranger,

I was thinking about you today. More like I was questioning why exactly I keep writing these letters to you and if that makes me crazy, but whatevs. Nevertheless, I was thinking of you, my supposedly dashing knight with strong enough arms to carry me to the hospital. I said 'supposedly' because I have no idea what you look like. I was slipping in and out of consciousness that day. Your ID wasn't in your wallet (which I found in the jacket that you wrapped around me) either since you probably needed to show it to somebody. So yeah, no idea who you are or what you look like. I'll admit that I kinda do want to know, but having a mysterious pen pal sounds cool doesn't it? I like writing these letters to you. They distract me, even if it's only for a little while. And since my treatment will be lasting a long time…well, you won't mind if I do this for years, would you? Though you could get tired of them and start burning them to itty bitty ashes and I would never know. I hope you don't though.

Since I don't know anything about you, I figured I could tell you a little about me: As you know, my name is Serena and I'm seventeen. I love all things chocolate. Except for chocolate covered raisins, I just don't like them. Bleh. I like bunnies. I like to paint. When I'm really bored I sometimes dress my cat up in doll clothes that I have from when I was little. She hates it (I've got a few scars to prove it) but my poor kitty still seems to love me anyway. My dad isn't actually my biological dad; my mom got pregnant by her boyfriend who left her once he found out. My parents married when I was four, so it makes no difference to me. I don't have any interest in ever meeting my real dad either. He was a major jerk from what my mom told me. The stuff with my boyfriend—well, ex-boyfriend now—I'm not all that upset about it. I was actually thinking about breaking up with him myself because he had gotten a little aggressive about pressuring me into certain things…you know, like the physical aspect of a relationship. Since my mom had given into her old jerk of a boyfriend and gotten pregnant, I'm adamant (I know, big word for me. I've been talking to Darien too much) about not making the same mistake. I had explained to my boyfriend that I wanted to wait until I was married. I guess he didn't really understand like he told me he did. I think that's enough about me. Now what to do…not much to do…nothing to do in a hospital.

Bored.

Bored. Bored bored bored bordedly boredly bored. Boreeeeeeeeeeeeddddd. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored. Bored.

*There are multiple drawings of animals and flowers and tic-tac-toe games that she apparently played with herself.*

Whoops, just realized this is your letter and not my drawing pad…

Dying of utter boredom,

Serena


	12. Letter Twelve

Dear Stranger,

Well, I've gotten to the bottom of the roller coaster hill with the chemotherapy. I feel so…ugh…_horrible_. Darien came into my room today all happy, cheery, and prancing around spitting glitter and rainbows. He probably wasn't actually like that, but compared to how I felt…yeah, that's what he was like.

Sadly, I've also come to the conclusion that Darien is not an alien. Which is both a good and bad thing. Good, because I can stop bothering my mother to file a law suit against the hospital for allowing an alien to conduct its tests on innocent human beings, and bad because now I can't explain him. He's just a weirdly interesting guy. He's gorgeous but he tries to avoid women as much as possible. He firmly denied being gay when I asked him if he was. He likes photography and going for a run at ungodly hours in the morning. His parents died a long time ago in a really bad car crash and he'd been living in foster homes until he was eighteen. He likes to have grape soda and pizza while watching a movie on a Friday night, but he hasn't been able to relax like that in a while because of work. I felt bad for him because I could tell he was really tired and stressed, so I told him that maybe we could do that together tomorrow night.

He smiled at me then, and I have to admit that I was a little dazed by it. But I quickly smiled back at him so that I wouldn't become one of the girls he tried to avoid too.

I found all this out about him today because he ate lunch with me. He ate lunch with me because he was avoiding the women in the hospital's cafeteria (there was a new group of interns, apparently made up of mostly women).

Trying not to think of tomorrow night as a date and hoping he brings popcorn,

Serena


	13. Letter Thirteen

**How could I forget to add my answers to your reviews?! Terrible...hope this catches most of you in time!**

**1 Sorry, but I cannot tell you _any _details whatsoever about the stranger :P It could be anybody reading the letters. Even someone who is an actual stranger.**

**2 Yep, you guys will eventually find out who the stranger is, don't worry. But it's at the very end. So you'll just have to be patient and review so that I'll update faster! ;)**

**3 Yes; I have exactly one chapter that isn't a letter, only because I couldn't figure out how to write that particular scene as a letter.**

**4 Whether or not Serena survives the cancerous tumor shall remain a mystery...**

**How do you guys like the new cover image? It's pink bunny stationary which I thought fit Serena's personality and taste. Enjoy!**

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Dear Stranger,

Darien tried to pull a joke on me. When he came in to watch the movie, he told me we were going to watch a documentary on one of our former presidents. He took one look at the expression on my face and burst out laughing.

Sooooo _not_ funny.

I simply crossed my arms and told him so.

When he _eventually_ calmed down, he told me that he was just messing with me and pulled two more movies from his backpack. One was an action movie and the other was a cheesy chick flick. I was definitely surprised that he had brought along such a girly movie, and Darien explained to me that he brought it just in case I was so mad from his joke that I wanted to get revenge on him. I rolled my eyes and giggled; that wasn't a bad idea. I told him to play the chick flick.

He pushed Lucas' old bed next to mine and emptied his backpack between us. Candies poured out, and he held a finger up to his lips and said, "Shhh" because candies weren't allowed unless it was a special occasion. But this was special enough of an occasion to me at least. He handed me a water bottle while he got his grape soda, and then the lights were off and he pressed play.

I don't know what I watched more: the movie, or Darien. He really was just so handsome. More than once, our hands touched when we were reaching for a handful of popcorn. So much for not thinking tonight as a date. I tried paying attention to the movie, but by the time I managed to, the main character was proposing to his lover in an elaborate garden of roses. It was actually a really sweet scene. I'd love to be proposed to like that.

It's not like I'd ever have a chance with him anyway. He'll find a prettier girl closer to his age and fall for her. He's my nurse, I'm his patient. I shouldn't even be starting to feel this way. My relationship just ended a week ago; shouldn't I still be mourning that?

Disappointed that Darien took all the leftover candy with him,

Serena


	14. Letter Fourteen

**Wow...so many reviews. You all are amazing!**

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Dear Stranger,

I was taking a shower when I first noticed that my hair was starting to fall out. I sank to the floor, leaning against the wall, staring at the clump of gold that I held. I sat there for a long while, afraid to touch my hair more, afraid that if I left the shower, more bad news would come.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a knock, and my mother's melodious voice sounded through the door. "Serena, sweety, are you coming out any time soon?" I forgot that she had promised to visit today.

As angry as I was with her for putting me through this, I realized I really needed her right now.

I rushed out of the shower, wrapping a robe around my pruned body as I threw open the door, throwing myself into my mom's arms. I was sobbing uncontrollably, telling her, "It's horrible, Mom! It's so horrible…"

She kept asking me what was wrong, but the words refused to form on my lips. Mom began to stroke my head as she normally did when I was upset. Moments later, I felt her freeze, her hand drifting away. "Oh Serena…"

I could only cry harder as she guided me towards my bed. She pushed me down gently so that I was sitting, and I buried my face into a pillow. I felt the mattress dip as she sat behind me. I jumped, alarmed by the prickly sensation at the top of my head, but I soon realized it was just my hairbrush. The tears came more quickly as I felt the brush pull away loose strands. She sang softly to me as she brushed, my favorite nursery rhyme beginning to calm me down.

When her brushing stopped, I tried to look into the mirror, but Mom stopped me. "Maybe you should wait until another time when you're more…composed can handle it better." She said to me, her smile filled with sadness. She reached into her purse and pulled out a neatly folded bandana. The moment she began to wrap the pink cloth around my head, I started to accept that this was happening, that I was really losing my hair. A strange sense of reality came crashing down on me, suffocating me. I felt numb.

"Serena, my love," Mom gently pulled my face so that I was looking at her. "Please don't let this affect you. Losing your hair doesn't change who you are, do you understand that? It doesn't make you any less of a person. It doesn't make you any less smart, less funny, less of a good friend, less _anything_. You'll always be my beautiful baby girl, and I will always love you, no matter what happens."

She pulled me to her as she finally started crying, squeezing me tightly. I pressed my ear to her chest, listening to her heartbeat, steady and strong like I wanted to be, and I let myself go.

Sincerely,

Serena


	15. Letter Fifteen

**Oops, I accidentally posted chapter fifteen of Satin Hostage and not letter fifteen of Dear Stranger...thanks _trish_ and an anonymous reviewer for letting me know about that! Though I recommend reading _Satin Hostage_ too if you haven't already!**

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Dear Stranger,

Darien came in this morning, greeting me with his usual cheery, "Good morning, Serena!" I don't understand how he can be so happy and awake this early in the morning. Then again, he always had a mug of strong smelling coffee, so maybe that was his secret.

I gave him my usual greeting as well: an incoherent grumble as I pulled my blanket over my head.

He yanked it down and I snapped at him for it. He didn't reply; his eyes were trained on a space a few inches above my eyes.

Then I remembered that I was losing my hair.

Gosh it was so embarrassing!

I had fumbled for the bandana, attempting to tie it around my head as my mother had, but each time it just wouldn't stay. Stupid thing! It shouldn't be this hard!

Darien wound up doing it for me. And it went like this:

"I'm, uh, sorry for the loss of your hair. I know you cared a lot about it," he grumbled something about how long I took in the shower. "And it was really long, so I'm sure you've been growing it out since you were little. And um, it was a very unique hairstyle you kept it in. Kind of made you look like a bunny."

Would the poor guy just stop already? It was getting really awkward…

"At least it won't get into my mouth next time we watch a movie…"

Oh make it stop…well, at least there's a next time…

"So—"

"Darien, you can stop. _Please_ stop."

He let out a breath, knotting the bandana tidily. "Sorry, I don't really know how to deal with this sort of thing yet."

I waved him off and he stepped forward to begin the preparations for today's treatment. I looked away when he brought out the needle and inserted it into my arm to withdraw blood. "Hey Serena…you don't think of the other night as a date, do you? I mean, we watched a movie together and that's usually something people on a date, but I know it was just us as friends…" The needle was taken out and I looked up at his flushed face.

"Uh…" it was silent for a few seconds. The ticking of the clock suddenly became a nuisance. TICK TICK TICK TICK BE QUIET YOU STUPID CLOCK YOU'RE GIVING ME A HEADACHE.

"No…" the word that passed through my lips was long and drawn out and definitely did not sound certain.

"Great! Glad we got that awkwardness sorted out." He smiled and guided me over for the next part of the preparations.

Darien, you're the one making it awkward since you first walked in here!

I thought this guy was supposed to be super-duper smart.

Wondering if it's possible to request a new nurse on the grounds of 'extreme awkwardness',

Serena


	16. Letter Sixteen

**Over one hundred reviews! I honestly didn't expect this big of a response when I first starting writing this...but I'm sincerely glad you're all loving it and your reviews definitely give me motivation to write. Thank you so much! Enjoy and review!**

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Dear Stranger,

Well it turns out that _no_; I cannot request a new nurse just because of one really awkward conversation and a broken heart (not that I exactly admitted that last part...).

Besides, I figured I'd miss those gorgeous blue eyes too much.

I went into the MRI tube thingy mabob today for the first time because Doctor Dez wanted to see if the chemo was making a change to whatever's wrong with me. It was pretty cool at first, but the longer it went on, the more boring it got. Doctor Dez kept reminding me to stay still but I was having a hard time concentrating.

When Darien escorted me back to my room, I told him about the headaches and difficulty concentrating. He made a joke about me already having difficulty concentrating and I glared at him. He then said that its just side effects from the chemo. He started rambling off a whole bunch of side effects including the ones I was already dealing with: headaches, muscle aches, appetite loss (he laughed at that too—he's really gotten to know me pretty well hasn't he?), sexual and reproductive issues (I do admit I'm a little worried about that…I've always dreamed of being a mom), visual problems, walking problems…

There was a lot and with each one he listed the black hole grew in the pit of my stomach. Eventually he just handed me a couple pamphlets but I haven't even touched them.

After he disappeared to check on another patient, I decided that it was time to take a look at was left of my hair. I stood in front of the mirror and tugged at the knot until the bandana fell away from my head, and I carefully pulled out the hairband that constrained the remnants. The sight that was revealed to be caused my bottom lip to quiver and tears to pool in my eyes but I tried my best to hold them back.

Large bald spots dotted my scalp and the tufts that remained weren't as luxurious as they once were. It wasn't pretty…_I_ wasn't pretty.

"You're still beautiful Serena."

Darien's image appeared in the mirror. I caught his eyes, filled with concern and sympathy.

"You think so?"

"Of course I do."

His and my mother's words keep echoing in my head but every time I walk past that stupid mirror, I can't hear them.

Sincerely,

The Ogre


End file.
